There are tons of people I’m sure that buy one bike, ride it, and are perfectly happy doing so. There are also tons of people – like myself – that follow a formula for bicycle ownership, and it goes a little like this;

S = N + 1

Where S is the number of bikes you should own, and N is the number of bikes you currently own.

What I love about this formula, is coming up with reasons for another N + 1 in your life.

I’m about to indulge in some heavy bike snobbery, but before I do, I’m going to tell you why it’s not snobbery.

Being a bike snob means that you’re only interested in, or only like, certain bikes. High-end, handbuilt bikes of course.

A bike snob would look at a $700 mountain bike and think “trash,” because they know that the only bikes out there worth their salt are made by Artisans. You know, guys that wear hats that only cover the back of their head, and only got one weld done on your frame today because they just weren’t feelin’ it man – between their $8 hand-pressed coffees and $12 artisan sandwiches made from old world grains and organic free-range ham – and you just gotta feel it, you know?

I’m going to make fun of a couple bikes here, but it’s not snobbery. Not entirely anyway. It’s more about usability and building a bike that makes sense.